WITH FOUR-PART HARMONY AND FEELING:  Happy Thanksgiving to one and all.  Via Joseph Finn, the ultimate "Alice's Restaurant" guide.

CONGRATULATIONS, ANDREW BYNUM:  PTI's annual review of the Turkeys of the Year in sports.

I DO RADIO COMMERCIALS FOR....PRODUCTS: It's a Thanksgiving tradition to watch Jed Bartlet on the Butterball Hotline and him considering whether he's "soft on turkeys." Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

MAYBE THEY NEED TO USE A GEORGE FOREMAN GRILL: The Union Square neighborhood in New York got Manhattan's first IHOP below 125th Street, and many are thrilled with 24 hour Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N' Fruity, the restaurant's immediate neighbors are angry with the incessant smell of bacon.

MR. AND MRS. MALLARD WERE LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO LIVE:  From Moby to Meany to Morrie, from a scarlet 'A' to one 'L,' the Boston Globe selects 100 favorite books about New England or by New Englanders.

ALL HE EVER DOES IS NOT GET INDUCTED:  Because Cris Carter's name appears on the list of 26 semifinalists for 2012 induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I'm pleased. Bill Parcells, Steve Atwater, Willie Roaf, and Jerome Bettis are the names that jump off the page for me, though you may have other ideas.

Also, I couldn't come up with a reason to do a separate post on the end-of-season baseball awards other than an itch to work in BRAUN OVER BRAINS? as a headline, but if you're exorcised over any of the selections this is as good a place as any to discuss.

MAY SHE DANCE WITH DRAGONS: Anne McCaffrey passed away today. It's been years since I read one of her novels, but her most famous series (Dragonriders of Pern) is a fascinating fusion of fantasy (dragons! harpers! pre-industrial society!) and science fiction (the "dragons" are genetically engineered creatures that help colonists on a new planet). Her other series had similar fusions--her "Talent and Hive" novels were set in a far future of space travel, but space travel was guided by psychic/magical air traffic controllers. The fusion made her books unpredictable and interesting in genres all-too-often content to rest on the same tropes again and again, making her the first female to win Hugo and Nebula awards, and a member of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Her imagination will be missed.